LaToya Cantrell makes Canal Street rebirth a priority

LaToya Cantrell, shown in this file photo, says Canal Street redevelopment is a top priority in her administration.

Redevelopment along Canal Street is now a top economic development priority for New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, who has been working with business and civic interests on the commercial corridor's rebirth.

Restoring Canal Street as a major retail destination for city residents and tourists has been a long-term goal of the Downtown Development District, and the quasi-public organization funded by downtown taxpayers has had varying degrees of success. But now Cantrell is seizing on two key developments in her push to make the thoroughfare more vibrant: The redevelopment of upper floors of historic buildings, and focusing her Clean Up NOLA initiative on making the street more inviting.

Canal Street redevelopment began in earnest in 2004 with the return of the Canal Street streetcar line after its removal in the 1960s. The $12.9 million Canal Street Improvement Project to improve streetscapes followed, and after an interruption by Hurricane Katrina, the work resumed in 2006. (Image courtesy Downtown Development District)

Cantrell laid out her plans Thursday (Oct. 18) with downtown property owners and residents during a meeting where she fielded a variety of questions about homelessness, quality of life and how to encourage property owners to fix up their buildings.

As mayor, Cantrell had not previously laid out Canal Street as an ambitious item before, but it was clear from her comments that she has been meeting behind the scenes with key leaders as well as rallying her own staff to clean up the city's historic corridor.

"We will not reach our fullest potential on Canal if we don't address, of course, the upper floors, but also the daily cleanliness of the environment," Cantrell said. "We've seen it work in New York, and just by being consistent and enforcing and getting trash out of people's eyes, it does spur more development."

The Downtown Development District, which gets a portion of taxes paid by downtown property owners, has funded nearly 20 facade improvements since 2007, including this building at 621 Canal St. (Image courtesy Downtown Development District)

Like many cities where downtown areas declined as residents fled to the suburbs and to indoor shopping malls, Canal Street's descent goes back to the 1960s. It has also struggled to attract large retailers because of real estate challenges, including fragmented ownership and narrow buildings with minimal storefront space, according to a Downtown Development District analysis released in 2017.

Kurt Weigle, the district's CEO, has tried to focus on the progress made along Canal Street since Hurricane Katrina while also acknowledging some of the challenges. Since the 2005 storm, 552 new hotel rooms, 939 apartments and condominiums, and 27 new stores have been added.

Another before and after facade improvement can be seen in this side-by-side photo of 1036 Canal St. (Image courtesy Downtown Development District)

Developers are also in the midst of a housing construction boom throughout the Central Business District and Warehouse District, with short-term rental companies subsidizing some of the development through master leases that give them control of the properties. That's driving some of the upper-floor redevelopment along Canal Street, including three buildings that Mike Motwani owns, including one that has sat in ruins since a 2016 six-alarm fire.

Motwani is a major property holder downtown, with several holdings along Canal Street. The short-term rental company Sonder's master lease of three of his buildings' upper floors helped Motwani finance the redevelopment. Ground was broken on 1016 Canal St., the fire-damaged building, last week.

A 1960s-era facade was removed to reveal the historic structure beneath at 814 Canal St. (Image courtesy Downtown Development District)

"When everything comes together, we see we're a lot better off than when we started," Weigle said Thursday.

"We still have some open land -- Loew's State Palace (Theater) and a number of things to work on, but we've come a long way."

Cantrell took a more critical view of the state of Canal Street. She remains concerned about cleanliness and the presence of vagrants often seen sleeping in the street.

"We have great, great space -- we know that and it's historic. But we have to do better," Cantrell said. "Even with pressure washing the buildings, you drive Canal Street, it's nasty. ... It still feels grimy."